10 Punk Rock Bands That Never Sold Out

Around the turn of the century, it felt like the authentic side of punk had really started to die out. If all we had to represent punk in the mainstream were people like Blink 182 and Sum 41, it was time to hang up the hat and accept the fact that punk had gone pop and was selling out big time. That was just one subgenre of punk though, and Rise Against were still on the ground floor with an axe to grind.

Going from making more hardcore leaning songs in their early years, Rise Against's more celebrated works never skimped out on the more pointed material they grew up on. Much like the punk rock of their youth like Minor Threat, punk was a lifestyle for these guys, and albums like Siren Song of the Counter Culture were a breath of fresh air in the pop punk scene, taking things back to canvas and using music as a tool to create some sort of change in the world.

This is also one of the few punk bands that have actually managed to make slower songs work in their favor along the line, with tracks like Swing Life Away and People Live Here having that same punk rock attitude while also hitting you right in the center of the chest. In that respect, punk is always about much more than just fashion and loud guitars. It's about attitude, and these guys have those ideals running through their veins.